John Brennan

News about John Brennan, including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times.

Chronology of Coverage

Mar. 7, 2015

Central Intelligence Agency Director John O Brennan announces that the agency will be restructured to better fight modern, global threats of terrorism. MORE

Dec. 15, 2014

Close relationship between CIA Dir John O Brennan and Pres Obama is evident in careful and coordinated messaging following scathing Senate report on CIA's interrogation program; both men have walked fine line, standing by agency and its employees while defending ban on interrogation tactics like waterboarding; analysis of relationship between the two men, and their views on torture, described. MORE

Aug. 2, 2014

Pres Obama publicly expresses his confidence in John O Brennan, director of the Central Intelligence Agency, despite Brennan's admission that the agency improperly searched computer files of the Senate Intelligence Committee; Sen Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat who sits on the panel, wants Justice Department to reconsider whether criminal charges should be pursued under laws prohibiting computer hacking. MORE

Aug. 1, 2014

Internal Central Intelligence Agency investigation finds that its officers penetrated computer network used by Senate Intelligence Committee in preparing its damning report of CIA detention and interrogation program; infuriated lawmakers call for CIA officers to be held accountable, and some say they have lost confidence in agency's director John O Brennan. MORE

Apr. 6, 2014

Central Intelligence Agency's paramilitary operations and drone wars continue, despite avowals from Director John O Brennan that agency should be refocused on its original missions of analysis, intelligence collecting and espionage; combination of bureaucratic turf fights, congressional pressure and foreign government demands contribute to delay, even as Brennan faces reckoning on other aspects of CIA's role in counterterrorism efforts. MORE

May. 24, 2013

John O Brennan, director of Central Intelligence Agency, is trying to shift agency's focus from counterterrorism back toward traditional spying and strategic analysis, but that is not an easy task; many officers who joined CIA after 2001 have concentrated on work of man-hunting and killing, and some officials and experts say it could take years for spy agency that has evolved into paramilitary service to rebalance its activities. MORE

May. 8, 2013

Central Intelligence Agency director John O Brennan replaces woman who is acting head of agency's clandestine service; chooses candidate without direct ties to controversial detention and interrogation program, signaling his aim to distance himself from it. MORE

Mar. 28, 2013

Central Intelligence Agency officer directly involved in 2005 decision to destroy interrogation video tapes and who once ran one of agency's secret prisons has ascended to top position with agency's clandestine service; decision about whether to keep officer in the job presents dilemma for new CIA director John O Brennan, who is opposed to the brutal interrogation methods used by the spy agency in years after September 11 attacks. MORE

Mar. 10, 2013

Account of how United States came to use drone strike to kill Anwar al-Awlaki, American-born terrorist leader, highlights perils of war conducted behind classified veil; decision to hunt and kill Awlaki has become subject of public scrutiny and debate, touched off by nomination of Pres Obama's counterterrorism adviser John O Brennan to be head of Central Intelligence Agency. MORE

Mar. 8, 2013

Editorial urges new Central Intelligence Agency chief John Brennan to commit to making Senate report on detention, interrogation and torture of Al Qaeda detainees public; contends coverup of lawbreaking perpetrated during former Pres George W Bush's administration has to stop. MORE

Mar. 7, 2013

John O Brennan, whose nomination as Central Intelligence Agency director is expected to be approved, must confront the agency's past before moving forward; first challenge for Brenann may be tackling a sweeping indictment of the CIA's former interrogation program, with officials accused of misleading the White House, the Justice Department and Congress for years on techniques and tactics. MORE

Mar. 6, 2013

Senate Intelligence Committee votes 12 to 3 to confirm John O Brennan as director of Central Intelligence Agency after White House agrees to provide more information on legal basis for targeted killings of Americans abroad; vote points to broad bipartisan support for Brennan. MORE

Feb. 21, 2013

White House is refusing to share fully with Congress the legal opinions that justify targeted killings, while maneuvering to make sure its stance does not endanger the confirmation of John O Brennan as CIA director; rather than agreeing to some Democratic senators’ demands for full access to the classified legal memos on the targeted killing program, Obama administration officials are negotiating with Republicans to provide more information on the 2012 attack on the American diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya. MORE

Feb. 11, 2013

Republican Sen Lindsey Graham says he will use a Senate custom known as a hold to stall the nominations of John O Brennan as CIA director and former Sen Chuck Hagel as Pentagon chief until the White House gives him a full description of Pres Obama’s actions during the attack on Sept 11, 2012, of the United States compound in Benghazi, Libya. MORE

Feb. 8, 2013

Senate Intelligence Committee members press John O Brennan, the nominee for director of the Central Intelligence Agency, on secrecy in the use of drones for targeted killings, their legal basis and the reported backlash they have produced in Pakistan and Yemen; Sen Dianne Feinstein says she will review proposals to create court to oversee targeted killings. MORE

Feb. 8, 2013

Editorial criticizes John Brennan's confirmation hearing as director of Central Intelligence Agency; says Senate Intelligence Committee did not always ask right questions and Brennan's answers about targeted killings of American citizens were frequently unsatisfying; maintains, while Senate should confirm Brennan, he must remember that heightened danger does not free executive branch from normal oversight. MORE

Feb. 7, 2013

White House directs Justice Department to release classified documents discussing legal justification for killing, by drone strikes and other means, American citizens abroad who are considered terrorists; order comes on eve of Senate hearing for John O Brennan, Pres Obama's choice for Central Intelligence Agency director. MORE

Feb. 7, 2013

Editorial welcomes push for greater accountability and transparency around America's use of drones for targeted killings; argues that John Brennan, Pres Obama's nominee for Central Itelligence Agency director, should be questioned closely about strikes during his confirmation hearing. MORE

Feb. 7, 2013

Op-Ed article by Prof Mary Ellen O'Connell urges presiding senators at confirmation hearing for John O Brennan, nominee to head Central Intelligence Agency, to hold him to account for one of Obama administration’s gravest failings: its refusal to openly discuss legal basis for America’s campaign of targeted killings of terrorism suspects. MORE

Feb. 6, 2013

John O Brennan, chief architect of clandestine campaign of targeted killings of suspected Al Qaeda militants in Yemen by drones, will face Senate confirmation hearing as Pres Obama’s nominee for Central Intelligence Agency director; hazards of drone strikes, including deaths of civilians along with militants, will face rare public scrutiny. MORE

Jan. 13, 2013

Ross Douthat Op-Ed column examines what nominations of Chuck Hagel for secretary of defense and John Brennan for director of Central Intelligence Agency reveal about Pres Obama's foreign policy. MORE

Jan. 9, 2013

Op-Ed article by author Ted Gup criticizes Central Intelligence Agency for invoking secrecy to serve its interests but abandoning it to burnish its image and discredit critics; contends agency's arbitrary and selective application of secrecy rules threatens its credibility; calls on John O Brennan, whom Pres Obama has nominated to lead agency, to demand more consistent application of those rules if he is confirmed. MORE

Jan. 8, 2013

Pres Obama’s nomination John O Brennan as director of Central Intelligence Agency puts one of his closest and most powerful aides in charge of agency that has been transformed by more than a decade of secret wars; one of biggest questions facing Brennan is whether CIA should remain at center of secret American paramilitary operations or rebuild its traditional espionage capabilities, which intelligence veterans say have atrophied during years of terrorist manhunts. MORE

Jan. 8, 2013

Editorial contends that both Chuck Hagel and John Brennan, Pres Obama's nominees for defense secretary and Central Intelligence Agency director, respectively, must provide answers to serious questions before they can expect confirmation by Senate; urges Senate to move on vote as quickly as possible. MORE

Nov. 20, 2012

Op-Ed article by author Gregory D Johnsen warns that John O Brennan, leading candidate to replace David H Petraeus as CIA director, is largely responsible for America's current flawed counterterrorism strategy, which relies to heavily on drones; contends that Petraeus's departure offers Pres Obama with opportunity to halt CIA's drift toward becoming paramilitary organization and put it back on course. MORE

Aug. 9, 2012

John O Brennan, President Obama’s top counterterrorism adviser, bluntly rejects charges from Mitt Romney and other Republicans that the White House has leaked classified information for political purposes; says critics are conflating unauthorized disclosures that do real harm with legitimate government efforts to inform the public. MORE

May. 14, 2012

John O Brennan, Pres Obama's top counterterrorism adviser, meets with Yemeni Pres Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi, one day after stepped-up campaign of American airstrikes reportedly killed 11 militants allied with Al Qaeda's Yemeni affiliate; meeting reflects the close cooperation of the two countries in attacking the affiliate, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. MORE

May. 1, 2012

Pres Obama’s top counterterrorism adviser John O Brennan says drone strikes targeting suspected militants come only after extensive deliberations; use of armed drones in places like Pakistan and Yemen has grown dramatically under the Obama administration, leading to growing concerns about civilian casualties and about a future in which other countries also acquire drones. MORE

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The findings overturned the conclusions of the C.I.A. inspector general, who determined last year that five officers acted improperly when they searched files used by the Senate Intelligence Committee during its investigation of C.I.A....

December 12, 2014, Friday

Senator Dianne Feinstein, chairwoman of the committee that investigated the C.I.A.’s interrogation program, offered a live rebuttal as John O. Brennan, the agency’s director, responded to the committee’s findings.